Alchemist Lab

Blood tests are essential monitoring tools in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that affect or are affected by the blood in your body. Patients suffering from diseases of the liver – also known as hepatic diseases – must monitor their blood on a regular basis at intervals determined by their health care provider, according to the type of disease, its severity and its progression.

At Alchemist Lab, we use blood tests as an important aspect of determining the best natural approach to treating each patient with Hepatitis or other infectious disease.

In this article, you’ll learn about the use of blood tests as an indicator of the stage of Liver Disease, as well as how to interpret the results (“numbers”) associated with several of the most common tests. In addition, we’ve provided a guide to some treatment protocols (natural supplements) that we prescribe for blood-related conditions. (more…)

At Alchemist Lab, we’re always looking for the best natural treatment protocols for hepatitis and other infectious diseases, and the conditions and symptoms that accompany those illnesses.

This article features some recent additions to our Apothecary – three antiviral supplements that we recommend and prescribe for treating hepatitis and other infectious diseases.

Naringenin

The first antiviral supplement is the bioflavinoid Naringenin, which is the bitter principle (constituent) of grapefruit.

The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) moves from cell to cell by latching onto very low density lipoprotein (vLDL, which is thought of as the “bad” cholesterol). Naringenin inhibits the cellular secretion of vLDL. So like statin drugs, Naringenin has the ability to lower HCV viral loads by interfering with the ability of the virus to move.

Quercetin (Optimized)

Quercetin is another bioflavinoid that is most well known for treating allergies.

HCV depends upon two different heat shock proteins (HSP #40 & 70) for viral replication. Quercetin inhibits the synthesis of these HSPs, thus lowering viral load.

The other important ramification of how Quercitin works in the body is that by affecting a cellular mechanism rather than the virus directly, viral resistance is not a factor.

Jungle Brew Herbal Combination

Our favorite recent addition to our antiviral supplements is our proprietary Dragon Heart Jungle Brew Herbal Combination (“Jungle Brew” for short).

Many of our best products at Alchemist Lab (such as Oxymatrine, and now Jungle Brew) were introduced to us when we followed up on reports by patients, who asked us to evaluate what they read on the Internet. We are both skeptical and open-minded in tracking down claims of herbal antiviral success.

Originally we at Alchemist Lab saw reports of high-dose Phyllanthus (Chanca Piedra) and Uncaria Tomentosa (Cat’s Claw) being used to knock out the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and our research indicated that these two natural herbs indeed offer an effective natural treatment.

Jungle Brew is a mixture of herbs from the rainforest of South America, including Uncaria Tomentosa and Phyllanathus Niruri.

Phyllanthus is broadly distributed around the world, including growing in India and Indonesia. We chose South America as a fresher, cleaner source of medicines, especially since we work with companies providing South American herbs that we trust more than their Asian counterparts. In developing the formula for Jungle Brew, we added in Jergon Sacha, Picao Preto, Sarasparilla, Honeysuckle Bud, and Patrinia Alba.

Jungle Brew has wide applicability in treating several infections, including Hepatitis B & Hepatitis C, Lyme Disease and fungal infections.

Patients we’ve prescribed Jungle Brew have reported extremely positive feedback. For example, one patient reported that his fungal nails started clearing up when he added this natural herbal mixture to his extensive treatment protocol. Hence we started using Jungle Brew as an antifungal, often adding in Pau D’arco as well for this purpose.

Although patients are reporting excellent results with Jungle Brew, we’re still fine-tuning this herbal formula. Mulungu and Amargo are two herbs that we’re testing and tasting for possible inclusion later. Tasting, because at Alchemist Lab we pride ourselves on creating herbal formulas that taste good (or are at least palatable) instead of the bitter taste that many people associate with herbal formulas.

Seeking Patient Feedback

At Alchemist Lab, we’re constantly seeking the very best natural treatments and constantly seeking to improve – especially when it comes to our own Dragon Heart proprietary herbal formulas.

We welcome your feedback about your experience with any of the products mentioned in this article. We’re especially interested in learning about any changes in viral loads as indicated by lab reports. Please visit the “Contact Alchemist Lab” page to find out out to contact us by phone, fax and via e-mail.

According to recent articles on the Alliance for Natural Health USA (whose motto is “Good Science & Good Law”) Web site, Senator John McCain has withdrawn his support for Senate Bill 3002 (which he had co-sponsored) after hundreds of thousands of messages poured in opposing his action.

It’s reported that Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the two health champions of the Senate, will introduce a new bill that will protect supplements.

This new bill, called the “Dietary Supplement Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2010″ (DSHEA) will regulate dietary supplements rather than trying to throttle the industry. McCain may end up as a sponsor of this new bill by including the provision that requires the FDA to notify the Drug Enforcement Administration if any supplement contains anabolic steroids. This is a reasonable proposal and satisfies his biggest beef which was the steroid scandal in baseball.

Another very dangerous piece of legislation, the FDA Food Modernization Act (Senate Bill 510, also known as the “Food Safety Bill”) has been altered to exempt dietary supplements from the language that would have harmonized American regulations to the Codex Alimentarius.

The Codex Alimentarius was developed to establish international food safety standards and to regulate ingredients in food products. There exists apprehension that the Codex standards are moving in the direction of the very restrictive European rules on supplements and that if America harmonizes with the Codex it would be the basis of severe restrictions on dietary supplements here in the U.S.

The House version of the “Food Safety Bill” has already passed. We need to make every effort to make sure the House version does not become law. Senators Hatch & Harkin are also the leaders in the battle to modify Senate Bill 510 so that it doesn’t restrict your access to supplements, and they deserve our support.

Additional Resources about the “Food Safety Bill” and Dietary / Nutritional Supplements:

The Alliance for Natural Health USA (ANH-USA) is an organization spearheading this battle for retaining your rights to use the nutritional supplements that form the basis for a natural approach to health care.

Read more in the following two articles about this issue at the ANH-USA Web site:

“ANH-USA Victory! Supplements Are Exempted From Codex Language in Food Safety Bill” (Published April 13, 2010)

“New Senate Supplements Bill Expected” (Published April 20, 2010)

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Codex Alimentarius at Wikipedia

On February 4, 2010, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) introduced a Bill (S 3002 IS) to Congress that if passed will both drive up the cost of dietary supplements and restrict access to them. This bill, co-sponsored by Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakot), originated from McCain’s interest in the baseball steroid scandal, whereby some companies sold illegal steroids under the guise of dietary supplements.

CLICK HERE to read the proposed Bill.

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) already has the power to outlaw supplements, evidenced by its ruling related to Ephedra. The problem with this bill is that it sets up a potentially arbitrary process and makes it too easy to ban supplements. It would give the FDA the authority to ban supplements as well as to set potencies.

Currently the FDA already requires all manufacturing companies to maintain records of any serious adverse reactions to its products. This new bill would require that all “non serious adverse events” also be reported to the federal government.

One obvious fault to requiring that non-serious adverse reactions, including headache, be recorded is that it’s often not possible to draw a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the supplement and – for example – a headache, which might have been caused by something else. If in our Dragon Heart Healing Arts clinic we prescribe a supplement and the patient gets a headache, how do we know that the remedy that we prescribed caused that particular headache, especially if the patient was prescribed and began to use more than one supplement at the same time? How do we even know that there was a connection between the supplement and the headache at all, which could have been caused by any number of other factors?

This bill, if enacted, would enable pharmaceutical companies to file to obtain reports on adverse OR non-adverse reactions using the Freedom of Information Act, and use this information to petition the FDA to restrict a particular supplement. This bill would also make it easier for large for-profit pharmaceutical companies to file use patents on supplements and convert them into drugs.

Fortunately, right now America is, more free than much of the world in terms of consumer access to potent (highly effective) vitamins and supplements. Much of this is due to the DSHEA Act of 1994 which governs current supplement law. This freedom is under considerable pressure from pharmaceutical companies with a profit motive, and also by some well-meaning politicians with specific concerns about protecting the public against against some specific harmful supplements, but whose proposed laws would also unduly and unnecessarily impact your ability to benefit by using supplements that are not only not harmful, but quite helpful.

In a related issue, there is an international effort under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization) WHO to regulate the food supply, which includes herbs and other nutritional supplements. I’ll be writing more about the Codex Alimentarius (Latin for food code) in a future article.

CLICK HERE to visit the Life Extension Action Alert Network for readers who wish to learn more about the Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) and to to take action on this threat:

High-fructose corn syrup is as damaging to the liver as alcohol.

Although you might consider this a controversial statement, understanding it is actually quite simple:  Both corn syrup and alcohol are metabolized by similar pathways in the liver.

This article focuses on the results of the intake of high levels of corn syrup, which is highly concentrated fructose. Fruit also contains fructose, but fruit also contains fiber that slows the absorption of fructose. Flooding the body with fructose beyond its adaptive mechanisms is what causes problems; not eating fruit.

Fructose is metabolized by the liver and is stored as fat in amounts that common table sugar (glucose) is not. Glucose metabolism is bottlenecked by a regulatory enzyme that raises insulin, which elevates leptin levels, which in turn suppressive appetite. Both alcohol and high fructose lack the regulatory framework that governs glucose metabolism.

Recent animal studies have confirmed that high fructose consumption leads directly to fatty liver. Research in adult humans consuming fructose-sweetened beverages for just ten weeks found that they gained belly fat, raised triglycerides, and became more insulin resistant.

Excessive fructose increases uric acid, which in turn raises blood pressure.  Uric acid inhibits nitric oxide which is a prime mechanism for lowering blood pressure.

Fructose also increases inflammation in the liver by initiating an enzyme that is appropriately named “Junk 1.”

The Hepatitis C virus rides on a carrier of vLDL (very low density lipoproteins), which is how it moves from cell to cell.  At the very end of the fructose pathway is vLDL, where fructose produces high levels of bad cholesterols.

Therefore, at Alchemist Lab, we prescribe:

Lowering or fully eliminating products containing high-fructose corn syrup from your diet.

Eating more fruits and vegetables as a means of getting your natural source of both fructose and fiber.

Taking Naringenin (the substance that makes grapefruit taste bitter) to inhibit the formation of vLDL, which in turn reduces high levels of bad cholesterols and helps keep bad cholesterol levels lowered.

CLICK HERE to learn more about and purchase Naringenin.